The Unsettling Faceless Cusk
This fish literally has no face—no eyes, no apparent nose, and only a small mouth underneath its smooth head. Discovered in 2017 off Australia, it detects food and navigates using a network of sensory pores in its skin. Its pale gray, eel-like body has reduced fins, allowing it to wriggle through sediment. Scientists believe it evolved its featureless head to reduce energy expenditure in the food-scarce abyss.